Bookwyrm Breakdown: Thoughts of Rebranding + Just Life

All things considered, May was good to me. Which is surprising to say because I don’t think I’ve truly had what I consider a good month in… well… ages.

(Aside from maybe the one month I was on PTO back in like August 2023 or something that really was just a bandaid to a bigger problem. But that’s a me problem!)

The cicadas are here, and they’re constantly screaming all day, which I mean… I, too, would like to constantly scream sometimes, and not necessarily about my life.

Recent Musings

I’ve been regularly blogging again! (I was determined, and I had a blog tour for one book. Also blogging gives me something productive to do instead of rotting away.)

• [10 May] Five Broken Blades by Mai Corland ★★★★
• [14 May] 2024 Goals + Aspirations: Staying Low-Key, with Self-Care as Priority
• [19 May] Wrath of the Talon by Sophie Kim ★★★★
• [28 May] Book Blogger Insider Tag | 6 Years Later in 2024

Books Hoarded

I’ve decided to remove this section from future wrap-ups until further notice (or I have review copies, but I’m currently going through old ones first) because I’m not going to be buying any books in the meantime (nor can I afford to). But I might revamp it to include library hauls via Libby instead.

Books Devoured

May had some surprising reads, but most importantly, I seem to have pivoted back into my usual fantasy books. I still love a good romance book, though, but I missed fantasy so much (there’s like one sci-fi I read).

I didn’t read as much as I hoped to, though (mostly because I’ve been getting my ear talked off nearly every waking minute about being unemployed and how I “really should’ve gone into the medical field instead of Communications,” but we’ll go a little more on that later).

The books I’ve read! I’ve only read three, but 1) I’ve been reading more regularly and 2) I’m reading more than just romance.

(There’s nothing wrong with romance at all; I just miss reading other genres.)

• Five Broken Blades by Mai Corland
• Wrath of the Talon by Sophie Kim
• Heavenbreaker by Sara Wolf

I only watched one show this month: Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, which was short and sweet, and I finished it nearly in one sitting. I might start Bridgerton at some point.

I’d continue with Delicious in Dungeon, which I started last month, but I’m waiting until the remaining episodes are out before finishing, which should be sometime in June.

The Breakdown

What catastrophes have the universe handed us throughout the month? Let’s find out. 🧐

So yeah, May was good to me, all things considered. If we don’t count a recent bad hailstorm that took my windshield out so I had to replace it, that is.

(Truly a girl yells at sky moment.)

On blogging

I did a lot of spring cleaning on the blog: updating pages, remaking the about page (well making the old ones private and creating a new one), creating the blogging stats transparency page, debated about getting rid of the gaming category and whether lifestyle should be divided into two because most of those posts are wrap-ups (did nothing with those), etc. Some of the Pinterest/featured images also got stretched and squished in some old posts but there wasn’t a pattern to it, so I had to go through all of my posts just to see if they got affected and fix it. I think I’ll take that over trying to fix the whole nine yards, though.

I think my biggest stress was finding out Jetpack Stats stopped working out of the blue where I got categorized as a commercial site for contact information (?). They reinstated my stats, though, but honestly, their definition of commercial is so broad, I’ve considered finally getting rid of the plugin altogether. Having the blog on the WordPress reader is nice and I like having different options for people to read/discover my posts, but without the stats, it’s also virtually the only thing I’m using JetPack for, and that plugin is already considered bloated as is.

I’ve spent the past month researching and testing out different plugin alternatives for the Jetpack functions I liked and wanted to keep. Most of them I found quickly and started implementing them (like the likes function), but I’m still looking for a few others, like the stats one. I have Google Analytics 4, but I’m not a fan of the layout and haven’t taken the time to truly learn the system. I tried a few alternatives a few years ago, too, but unfortunately they also have a monthly fee (and I definitely can’t afford that currently).

2024 stats transparency is definitely going to be an interesting post for sure, though! But if anyone’s found a free alternative they’re using, please let me know! 🥺 It feels weird currently to have 2-3 analytics plugins to see which ones work best, but this is for Science™. 😂

(One day, I’ll probably get rid of stats altogether and just vibe along with blogging. But I’m way too nosy and fascinated about data.)

And finally, I’ve been playing with a possible rebrand, which is a huge deal since I’ve had this blog for nearly 12 years and feel like I’ve established myself quite firmly. I come around to it every few years, beginning in 2015-2016, and I made a Google Doc in 2022 with the whole nine yards: why I wanted a rebrand, possible new names, etc. I also deleted it in 2023 when cleaning my Google Drive of old school things I no longer needed, but I’m regretting it a little.

It’s okay, though, because who I am now is different from who I was nearly two years ago. And honestly, I only remember one name from that list, which is the one I’ve been playing with. But if I’ve shelved it and keep coming back to it, then it’s worth exploring, right?

I think my biggest hurdle right now is whether I want to continue using my pen name in blogging or if I’m comfortable using my actual first name. Everyone knows me by Sophia — there’s definitely going to be confusion if I switch, even if I’ve not made it entirely secret that I don’t blog with my actual name. But I’m wondering if the current name is holding me back from opportunities because it has “book” in the name.

Don’t get me wrong — I like the current name a lot and the cute little dragon logo. The content and look of the blog (at least for theme and colors) won’t be changing, but I do think I’ve started to grow out of it if I’ve not already been doing so for the past few years. And that’s probably why, when I come back to it, I’ve been thinking about it for lengthier periods of time than before.

Anyway, I just wanted to throw my thoughts out there. There’s a lot to think about on my end (again), but if I go through a rebrand, I hope you’ll continue sticking around.

(Ah, hell, that means I’ve gotta go through the images and remake them again, don’t I? I guess I’ll be going through and killing my darlings cutting down some posts again. Among other work, which makes rebranding less appealing.)

On life and job searching

May was a lot of job hunting — writing cover letters, prowling about LinkedIn a little (God, I hate that site), checking job boards for anything of interest and shooting my shot applying. I had a few interviews, but unfortunately none of them landed an offer thus far. 😔

I’m trying to keep my mental health in mind, but it’s honestly difficult when my mom’s interrogating regularly about job hunting or berating me constantly* for going into a creative field instead of the medical field (except I know full well my anxiety would not be okay with nursing, and I panic at the sight of blood and needles).

*In her defense, she’s taking it just as hard if not harder than me considering her livelihood depends on me.

Journalling is at least helping a little (and unfortunately reading Asian Parent subreddit for validity, as much as I hate Reddit, but it’s good to know I’m not alone), but I’m starting to feel like maybe there isn’t a place for me in a creative field. And yet I’m also a persistent child who secretly believes I just need one person* to believe in me one day.

*You believe in me, right? Or at least I’ve deluded myself into thinking that, and that’s why I’m still blogging. I wish my confidence could say the same, but we’ll save that for my non-existent therapist to unpack.

That being said though, I’m currently exploring options within the medical field that’s a little less on the blood and needles in the meantime, so I might pick up something on the side (aka the trenches of food service/retail), go back to school for one class a semester (maybe two if I can afford it), and slow mode my way through a career pivot. It’ll at least keep me busy and working towards something, and I can always fall back to a field using my degree one day if the opportunity comes up.

Let’s talk: tell me about your May! What are you looking forward to in June?